It Started with Compost: My Path to the CGC
By Jayashree Vaidyanathan, CGC Board Member
If I sent you my resume, you would ask, “What is a technology professional doing on the Board of the Civic Garden Center?” I worked in corporate America for 26 years, but like many who began re-thinking their lives during the pandemic, I decided to take advantage of a cycle of events to call it quits.
By then, I had already been involved with the CGC. As a busy mom of two, I still loved to work in the garden. One day in the spring of 2018, I was frustrated because the compost system I had purchased and proudly installed had been destroyed by animals. My search for help led me to the CGC. I went there, and a very kind lady took me outside, showed me the various compost setups they had on display, and gave me the information I needed for a more animal-proof system. Since then, I’ve been signing up for various classes and volunteering with them.
My passion for environmental issues, over the years, led me to gardening with native plants. I began using my own garden as a test plot as I figured out how to landscape with these plants. My volunteering sessions were also occasions where I would meet fellow gardeners and nerds, and we would share information. I fell in love with the beautifully landscaped grounds.
When I made the decision to leave the corporate world, I was looking for more opportunities to deepen my involvement with the CGC. A meeting with the Executive Director, Karen Kahle, was enough to strengthen my conviction that I was in the right place. I joined the Board in December 2021.
The CGC is in the unique position of being a community gathering space, an educational resource, and a leader that bridges critical gaps as it relates to gardening and, specifically, gardening with native plants.
As a first-generation immigrant, a woman of color and someone living in suburbia, I bring a unique perspective to the Board that comes from my own passion and experiences. While today’s rampant spread of technology has been beneficial in some ways, I rue the fact that it has robbed us of community and created a world distanced from nature.
It would not make sense for an environmental organization to operate without community involvement, because people, like nature, are meant to be interconnected. Community is at the heart of everything the CGC does. It is what keeps me going back to the CGC, geeking out at the plants, admiring the periodic art exhibits, engaging with other volunteers, being part of a plant festival, and serving on the Board. I look forward to learning and growing with the CGC.